SNN117231 - Life on the Dallington Brook: Archaeological investigations at Harlestone Park, Northamptonshire, 2022–2023 Archaeological investigations at Harlestone Park, Northamptonshire, 2022–2023

This monograph presents the results of archaeological works carried out ahead of the residential redevelopment of a 90 hectare (ha) parcel of land on the edge of New Duston, a western suburb of Northampton. The volume contains a detailed account of the discoveries made during the archaeological works and draws upon an earlier trial trench evaluation (undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology), geophysical survey evidence (undertaken by GSB) and cropmarks identified by the Northamptonshire National Mapping Programme (NNMP). A small assemblage of mostly residual Mesolithic worked flint was recovered from the excavations, although the earliest features identified at the site were of Early Neolithic date. These comprised a small number of pits in Areas A and B containing Early Neolithic plain bowl pottery and worked flint. By the Middle Bronze Age the development site had become a focal point in the landscape, marked by the establishment of two groups of cremation burials, one either side of the Dallington Brook. Radiocarbon dating and Bayesian modelling indicates that this activity was broadly contemporaneous, although the groups themselves were very different in character. The cemetery in Area A was the larger of the two, and comprised tightly spaced clusters of burials, compared with a more dispersed pattern observed in Area B. From the Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age there appears to have been a dramatic change in the landscape, represented by the construction of linear boundaries. These took the form of two pit alignments, situated to the north and south of the Dallington Brook respectively, which broadly followed the floodplain and underlying alluvial geologies. There was a marked increase in archaeological features of Middle to Late Iron Age date compared with earlier periods, suggestive of a period of intensified settlement and economic practices. At this time the preceding Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age pit alignments were redefined by ditched boundaries, which influenced the orientation and layout of the enclosures and features associated with the Middle to Late Iron Age settlement. The morphology of the enclosures, combined with the faunal and charred plant remains assemblages, suggests that this community was initially engaged in a mixed farming economy, combining both arable and pastoral practices. As the settlement progressed, particularly with the development of specific enclosures and the creation of field systems and a droveway in Area A, there seems to have been a notable transition towards an increased emphasis on pastoral farming. Within Area B, the establishment of a new enclosure system in the Late Iron Age/Early Roman period raises the possibility that there was some settlement continuity following the Middle to Late Iron Age; however the otherwise extensive morphological changes to the enclosures during the Late Iron Age/Early Roman period suggest that the majority of the Middle to Late Iron Age features had silted up by this point. The archaeological evidence and artefactual assemblages suggest that the site was largely abandoned during the 1st century AD, until the construction of a limekiln in Area A during the Middle to Late Roman period. No evidence for corresponding domestic or settlement activity was identified within the development site. Following the abandonment of limekiln A at some point after the 3rd to 4th centuries AD, the site seemingly saw little use until the early medieval period, when it was used for the burial of two individuals in Area B. In the medieval and post-medieval/modern periods the development site was utilised as heathland and for arable and pastoral cultivation up to the present day.